First Uninsured NJ Victim Listed

Among the thousands of Americans who suffered without health insurance to provide necessary treatment was Robert Taylor, of East Orange, who died at the age of 63 on April 29.

His story is the first about a New Jerseyan among those posted on a new website created by Congressman Alan Grayson, the Florida Democrat who earned national attention when he ridiculed Republicans who oppose health care reform legislation.

“The Republican health care plan is: Don’t get sick,” Grayson said in a floor speech in the House of Representatives. “And if you do get sick, die quickly.”

Grayson’s website, namesofthedead.com, includes an entry posted by the New Jersey victim’s sister, Lilieth Taylor.

“My brother was one of the working poor. He could not afford health insurance,” wrote Lilieth Taylor. “He had several chronic illnesses. He could not afford his medication, or, the necessary doctor’s visit.”

“His health care provider was the emergency room,” her story continues. “I know my brother would be alive today if we had a public option.”

After his startling decree in the House, Republicans demanded an apology, but Grayson instead expressed sorrow to the 44,000 Americans who die each year for lack of having a way to pay for needed health treatment.

Grayson apologized to “the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America.”

More recently, Grayson has joined GOP Rep. Ron Paul in demanding an audit of the Federal Reserve System, which has refused to identify banks that received $2 trillion in loans since the near collapse of the American financial structure a year ago.